1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to solar cells for converting solar energy into usable electrical energy, and more particularly, to packages for reliably housing a plurality of solar cells.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art:
Various types of solar cells are known in the art. For example, silicon solar cells may be provided on silicon wafers having a large-area PN junction. During bright sun light, a 3-inch diameter silicon solar cell may provide about 1.0-1.5 amps of current at approximately 0.5 volts. In order to provide a suitably sized solar panel, a plurality of such solar cells must be housed within a single package. It is necessary that the electrodes of each silicon solar cell make low resistance electrical contact to the P-region and N-region forming the large area PN junction. It is also necessary that the means of electrically contacting the semiconductor material upon which the incident solar radiation falls be such that semiconductor active area is shielded as little as possible by the contacting material. To date, no solar package for solar cells has been provided which provides the combined features of minimizing shading of solar radiation from the cells, and provides high packing density of the solar cells such that each solar cell is very closely located to the adjacent solar cells, and which is easily manufacturable and which provides a satisfactorily low amount of resistance between the terminals of each individual solar cell and the external terminals of the solar cell package.